I
believe that we were meant to live joyful lives exploring the
wonders of self, the excitement of interpersonal relationships and
the exquisite beauty of the world, the Universe and everything!

Yet
for our human family in the 21st century, it is not always possible
to achieve this because our differences get in the way – differences
of culture, skin colour and religion. And while these differences do
give us great pleasure when we sample the cuisine and the arts and
crafts from around the world, we falter when it comes to real
(authentic) interpersonal connections.

The crippling legacy
of religious wars, racism and ethnic cleansing over the centuries is
our present xenophobia about people who look and think differently
from us. And today, at the level of individuals and nations, these
fears give rise to yet more violence and war in a weary, seemingly
never-ending cycle. The problem is that in the middle of a conflict
when we feel that the core of our beings, our way of life or our
personal freedom is being threatened, we often feel that we have
only one option – to lash out in violence verbally or physically.

But
we do have other options. we need to find the courage to look
through and beyond the misbehaving personality to the wounded human
frailty behind it. We need to be willing to take the risk of opening
up to each other our vulnerable, fragile Center of Self where truth,
beauty and authentic power reside, that pure core of our essential
being. There we will find the commonality between us. And then we
will see that (s)he is us..

And we can do this one person at a
time until we transform ourselves and the world.